Saturday 9: Purple People Eater

Saturday 9: Purple People Eater (1958)

Unfamiliar with this song? Hear it here.

This was always a fun song.

1) When actor Sheb Wooley brought this song to MGM Records, they initially rejected it, saying it just wasn't the kind of thing they wanted to be associated with. Then executives discovered how popular the audition recording was with the 20-somethings in the office. MGM released it after all and it became a #1 hit. Tell us about a time you were glad you changed your mind about something.

A. A long time ago, I was looking to change doctors. I visited a doctor, we'll call her Dr. L., who was with one of our two large medical facilities. I liked her, but I knew her mother, and I felt there was a personal conflict. I didn't go back, and found a doctor at the other facility. Fast forward a few years and Dr. L. opened her own office in nearby Daleville, no longer affiliated with one of the large facilities. I went to see her. She's now my doctor and I have never been sorry for a second that I have her as my physician.

2) This song has been so enduringly popular that in the 1970s, the Minnesota Vikings defensive line referred to themselves as the Purple People Eaters. What football team do you root for?

A. I root for the University of Virginia college team. I don't root for professional leagues.

3) The song was initially inspired by Sputnik, the satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1958. In the 21st century, do you think space exploration is a worthwhile public investment? Or would you prefer  governments spend that money here on earth?

A. I think there is enough money, if spent wisely, to do both. I am a big space fan and I think space exploration brings about technological improvements to things that eventually wind up in our everyday lives. We need good goals as a country, too. Goals that aren't about war or power take-overs, but about learning and understanding. Space exploration helps with those goals and has the capability of pulling parts of the country together.

4) The Purple People Eater is a visitor from another planet. When you imagine creatures from outer space, are they frightening or friendly?

A. In Douglas Adam's book, A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, they annihilate Earth. They are out to get us in the movie Independence Day. They are cuddly in E.T. In Star Trek, they tend to look a lot like us, but not always. I think, though, that a species capable of interstellar flight and exploration would not be conquerors but instead live on a higher plane that we have not yet reached, and therefore would bring goodness, hope, and understanding to the planet.

5) This record was the biggest hit Sheb Wooley ever had. He was better known as an actor, costarring with Clint Eastwood on the 1950s TV show, Rawhide. What's your favorite Clint Eastwood movie?

A. I don't like Clint Eastwood. I have seen some of his movies but I don't recall liking any of them. There was one about a girl and baseball that was tolerable. I don't remember the name of it.

6) Sheb and Clint remained buddies and appeared together decades later in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976). Tell us about one of your longest-lasting friendships.

A. My friend Leslie is a wonderful person. She's very sweet, kind, and super smart. We've been friends for 38 years. I met her in one of my first jobs. She loves dogs, and is a widow now. She is 70 but continues to work full time. Her family is an old Botetourt family. Her mother taught my husband in elementary school. She loves me unconditionally, and I love her back.

7) In 1958, when this song was popular, hula hoops were a national craze. Did you ever play with a hula hoop? If yes, were you good at it?

A. I played with them, but I was not good at it. I think I was lucky if I'd get the thing to go around five times.

8) Also in 1958, Arnold Palmer won his first Masters Golf Tournament. When did you most recently play golf?

A. I have only played putt-putt golf, and it has been many years since I did that.

9) Random question: Do you believe women gossip more than men?

A. No. But I think it's quite the cliché and Hollywood has certainly worked to perpetuate it.

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